Is this iPhone?

Uh, no. The A79 might have the conventional good looks necessary to fit in at a Genius Bar, but it doesn’t truly belong. One look at the A79’s accessory-packed box should be enough to tell you that. When was the last time Apple included a phone case and charger?

And of course, those “conventional good looks” involve the A79’s somewhat bulky figure that Apple is so in love with. We’re not bothered by it. We’ll never fault a phone for slimming down, but if the materials are right, those bulky features go a long way in making a R9,000 piece of kit feel like double that price.

Our review model turned up in a ‘Mystery Black’ hue that probably bogged down the marketing team for weeks dreaming it up. On the rear, over in the top right corner is the rectangular “Innovative AI Camera” bump that fortunately doesn’t take up much real estate. The back is all coated in a treated plastic that’ll almost have you thinking “Oppo didn’t really cover this thing in glass, did it?”

Running along the phone’s iPhone-esque metal frame and rounded corners are all the usual port suspects. USB-C holds court in the centre, joined by a speaker vent and something we don’t often see anymore – a 3.5mm earphone jack. You’ll find the volume rocker and power button that doubles as a fingerprint reader along the right, while the left is home to the SIM tray.

Easy on the eyes

It might have the body of an iPhone but that’s where the similarities end. The A79’s 6.72in FHD+ LCD display makes that immediately apparent. That wasn’t a dig, the A79’s display, capable of reaching 680 nits brightness, handled everything we threw at it – which mainly consisted of watching YouTube, answering emails, and handing out Ws in Marvel Snap. That’s the 90Hz spec doing most of the talking.

While it made scrolling around a whole lot quicker, we had difficulties getting the A79’s gaming chops up to scratch. It struggled even booting them up, and in the case of Marvel Snap, a card game in the same vein as Hearthstone mind you, it couldn’t get the frames up higher than 30fps. Now imagine PUBG Mobile.

It’s easy to blame the 90Hz refresh rate for not living up to expectations, but that isn’t it. Our issue lies with the choice of processor: a MediaTek Dimensity 6020, 8GB of RAM and Mali-G57 MC2 GPU. Again – when it comes to handling the mundane stuff, it’s great. Just… don’t expect much more.

More annoying is the Android reskin Oppo calls ColorOS – especially in the beginning. If you aren’t clearing out the boatload of bloatware, you’re being asked to register for Oppo-this or Oppo-that. Once the mountainous pile of Facebooks, Booking.coms and other rubbish was removed, ColorOS settled itself down in the background as a regular old Android clone that can be almost entirely forgotten about.

We did say almost. It’s far from being a big deal, and even further from being a dealbreaker, but Oppo’s presence is felt the most when hooking anything up through Bluetooth. Hit the Bluetooth switch on, and the A79 will automatically try to connect to the last device it used — waiting around thirty seconds before it gives up and accepts new connections. For those who have plenty of devices in a rotation, you have been warned.

Something to say (loudly)

One of the A79’s best features is the inclusion of dual stereo speakers, and what Oppo calls “Ultra Volume Mode” which will send the numbers rocketing up to 300%. Oppo wasn’t kidding. The A79 gets loud. Really loud. But on the journey to 300%, it loses much of its clarity before eventually reaching a level of distortion that becomes downright unpleasant.

When it wasn’t being put through the reviewer mill (because seriously, when will 300% volume ever be necessary?), the A79’s speakers turned out to be surprisingly decent. It’s not often we get to say that about a smartphone we aren’t paying through the nose for. Audio was clear and detailed — improving our YouTube and Netflix sessions a whole lot.

What turned out to be the A79’s proper best feature, however, was the 5,000mAh battery it’s got in there. It’s comparable to Samsung’s S24 Ultra — only losing out on the top spot thanks to the still respectable 33W charger in the box. It managed to conquer a full day without breaking a sweat, very nearly surviving long enough to make it a full 48 hours. It never quite managed the feat, but stick it on power saving mode, keep the gaming to a minimum, and it’ll pull it off easily.

Throw some more intensive use at it — a few videos from Hbomberguy at full brightness should do the trick — and it’ll start to tear at the seams a bit. That means calling out for a charger nine hours in, which, for the price Oppo is asking, is still rather impressive.

Utterly failing the A79’s decent feature set is its fingerprint and face unlock features, the former of which is embedded right into the power button. Under-screen sensors are the future, and the A79 is a perfect example of why. Unlocking the device took at least three tries per attempt — a combination of the failing face scanner and fingerprint sensor. Constant vibrations from the sensor’s failed attempts in your pocket didn’t help matters one bit.

Megapixels aren’t everything

You’ve probably heard that megapixels aren’t everything, or you read the sub-heading, one of the two. In Oppo’s case, it couldn’t be more true. It houses a solid 50MP main sensor in the rear, accompanied by an unenthusiastic 2MP depth sensor, and a simple 8MP sensor around the front. There isn’t a triple-digit spec to point at, but that didn’t stop the A79 from pulling some decent pictures out of the bag.

The 50MP sensor was obviously the star of the show. We knocked out a bouquet of decent-looking images across various lighting conditions, hardly ever losing detail. The 2MP and 8MP sensors are less serious about their jobs but will do everything you ask them to, and do them fine. Don’t expect them to do anything more, however.

You’ll need to flick on the camera’s AI enhancer to get the results we’re talking about, something Oppo leaves off by default. Colour reproduction does take a slight and unfortunate hit but that can be remedied with a bit of editing.

Oppo A79 5G verdict

Oppo’s A79 5G has everything a mid-range phone needs: a big display, excellent battery life, admirable camera skills, and an enticing price. Ignore the R12,000 RRP and you’ll find far more respectable listings around the R9,000 mark. It’s not without faults, like a failing processor that makes gaming a slog, or the too-loud speakers that’ll drown out any sort of quality. Thankfully they’re few and far between, making the A79 a good option for anyone looking to get out from under Samsung’s wing without breaking the bank.

That turned out to be the Honor X9b, a follow-up to that scrappy mid-ranger we had a good time with about a year ago. It’s (almost) everything a sequel should be; improved specs, a new letter in the name, a much larger battery, and a minimum price jump – coming in at a R13,000 (or cheaper if you know where to look). Oh, and it does come in black. Whew.

Like Clockwork (Orange)

If you’ve seen our review for the X9a, you’ve already got a good idea of what to expect from this younger sibling. Honor doesn’t like to fiddle where it’s not needed, so despite a shade like a forgotten toffee, the familiar design didn’t bother us at all.

The X9b is surprisingly light. Honor’s added 10g to the weight of the last model but at 185g, complaints are few and far between. It’s a bit thicker, but Honor’s managed to keep it from exceeding the 8mm mark (though only just), so it gets a pass.

Unfortunately, the best bit of our review model’s design — the vegan-leather backing that so excellently defends against fingerprints (and doubles as a conversation starter) — is exclusive to the Sunrise Orange hue we landed up with. It’s not a big deal, though. The included see-through cover rendered the discussion almost moot — meaning you won’t get a good feel of that leather-like backing anyway.

Surrounding those smooth metal edges are all the bits you’d expect. USB-C has the charging handled, parked right next to the SIM slot and singular speaker that proved to be quite lonely. The right-hand side is where you’ll find the volume rocker and power button. The IR blaster is the only blemish to the X9b’s minimal top rail.

Goodluck breaking this

Honor’s made quite a splash where the X9b’s display is concerned. We aren’t talking about the curved-edge display that returns for another round but rather the X9b’s launch event, where a crowd of people were instructed to try to break it. It doesn’t matter how tough your screen is. When there’s a R25,000 prize up for grabs, folks will find a way.

Break it they did but it still took a good three hours of constant drops, hits from a miniature wrecking ball, and shots of paintballs so it should survive the occasional drop without issues. Underneath the tough glass protection sits a 6.78in FHD+ AMOLED screen featuring a 120Hz refresh rate and 1,200 nits of peak brightness.

That refresh rate came in handy once we got to gaming, but we’ll sing those praises a little louder once we get round to the internals. The display played its part well; we didn’t notice any stuttering when loading up PUBG Mobile’s “Ultra” framerate setting or aimlessly scrolling around the OS.

If only the screen’s colour reproduction had us feeling as affectionate – often leaving the darker bits of the screen in the shadows despite the AMOLED tech — most noticeable during a late-night YouTube session. It didn’t bother us, but if Game of Thrones season 8 is your go-to mobile entertainment, it’s something to consider.

Chasing the Snapdragon

To keep the budget down, Honor shoved in Qualcomm’s octa-core Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 which proves to be a competent daily driver. It can’t compete with the flagship chipsets but those are usually more than double the price. The older entry-level chip means you won’t find any on-device AI capabilities, Honor’s saving those for its own flagship devices. Still, the X9b handles itself well considering its price bracket.

Our model showed up donning 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage – but you’ll regularly hear Honor touting 20GB of RAM here thanks to what it calls ‘Honor RAM Turbo’. The idea isn’t new but it’s supposedly in place to expand the device’s reach and make multitasking quicker. The X9b didn’t put up a struggle trying to multitask games and apps, but how much of that was down to the ‘RAM Turbo’… we can’t say.

Pair those specs with the Adreno A710 GPU and you’ve got yourself a nifty little gamer. We’ve already said PUBG Mobile behaved better than expected, but that was the case across the board. Marvel Snap might not seem like a difficult game to wring good performance out of, but bump the settings up and watch it struggle elsewhere. It did just fine here, even if the battery took a hit during longer stints.

Speaking of which, the 5,800mAh battery was superb, managing to provide around a day and a half’s worth of life before whining about it. Long gaming sessions bring that number down, but confine your usage to mundane tasks and you’ll net 36 hours easily.

The X9b’s not a very feature-packed phone (see the R13,000 price tag), but the few it does include work (almost) flawlessly. Only rarely did we have to jam our finger back on the display fingerprint sensor to get a correct reading and the face unlock worked rain or shine, day and night. Audio quality is where things begin to fall apart. It’s passable for scrolling socials but the lack of bass made almost any music sound hollow and thin. You’ll want to keep your wireless headphones within reach.

Enter the Matrix

Honor proves that bigger doesn’t always mean better. If you can get past the absolutely mahoosive three-camera array taking up a lot of the phone’s rear, you’ll find a 108MP main sensor doing all the heavy lifting, with a 5MP ultrawide, and 2MP Macro lens thrown in.

You’ll get some half-decent shots that hold onto a good amount of detail — as long as you’re blessed with rays or the right lighting. Thrust it under the moonlight (or say, a cloud) and the images soften up on you, blurring the edges. Flipping to night mode can help — but it applies an artificial-looking filter on top of it all that we weren’t particularly fond of.

Expect similar performance from the 5MP ultrawide sensor, though images here tend to lean on the side of grainy. It’s ‘good enough’ for a R13,000 phone, but we’d advise throwing a few filters at those images before posting to Instagram. We had more luck with the 2MP macro lens, but it’ll take some fiddling to get right. Super macro mode was probably the best of the bunch, but it’ll need some very up-close subjects before it spits out anything detailed.

Honor X9b verdict

Hollywood, take notes. This right here is how you do a sequel. It retains what we loved about the first — in this case that mid-range price, decent 120Hz AMOLED display, and great body — and improves on the rest where it can. That’s evidenced by the impressive 5,800mAh battery and overall upgrade to the processor that makes this such an excellent daily driver and occasional gamer. It’s not faultless (looking at you, camera and speaker) but they’re much easier to overlook with that R13,000 RRP. Now just to get rid of that orange, man…

We’re guessing on that whole ‘best Android phone this year’ thing, obviously, but history has shown that Samsung usually wins the race early in the year. Smartphone releases have produced some diminishing returns for the South Korean tech maker of late, however. Sure, it’s the best, but the gap between handsets has been narrowing for years. Something new was needed. Has Samsung gone novel enough in 2024?

Titanium package

That… depends. There are several notable changes to the Galaxy S24 Ultra over its immediate predecessor(s), including an actual visual change. These are relatively rare in Smartphone Land and are worth paying attention to on their own. We don’t mean there’s anything new concerning camera or port placement. Nor has the S Pen moved from its customary home in the base of the phone. But Samsung’s levelled out the screen and rear panel, resulting in a flatter smartphone in 2024.

There’s still some curve to be seen but it’s all along the Galaxy S24 Ultra’s edges. Which, by the way, are also new. Titanium adorns the Ultra’s edges, making for a tougher smartphone without any significant uptick in the weight in your pocket. It also lets Samsung vie directly with Apple’s iPhone 15 Pro Max in terms of featured bullet points. We’re sure that’s entirely coincidental.

Expect the usual ports and keys, a slight bulge where the camera sensors stick out (we’re almost convinced that this is to convince you to buy a case), and a series of newly named shades. Our review unit was Titanium Amber… because plain old ‘Yellow’ isn’t allowed on a spec sheet.

Your only option

If you’ve become used to the latest Snapdragon chipset in your Samsung, the Ultra is the only place you’ll find it in 2024. The smaller handsets have stepped back to the Samsung-made Exynos but you’ll have no cause for complaint when it comes to speed on any of these devices. It’ll chew up tasks and games and spit out results or frames respectively. It’s remarkable how unremarkable that’s become.

This is just us saying that the Galaxy S24 Ultra doesn’t do anything new here. It’s a monster of a phone but when the previous four handsets have also been monsters, it stops being scary and starts being something you can take for granted.

The same thing goes for the excellent 6.8in screen adorning the S24 Ultra’s front. It’s more or less identical to last year’s display in terms of features, only Samsung is styling it a ‘dynamic LPTO AMOLED’ this year as if that wasn’t the case stretching back years. Peak brightness has been given a substantial boost and this is definitely visible compared to previous handsets in the lineup. It’s no device-selling feature but it’s good to have regardless.

Picture this

So you thought that last year’s camera was a world-beater, did you? That’s fantastic because it’s back for another round in 2024. The Galaxy S24 Ultra makes one very minor tweak, swapping out the 10MP periscope telephoto lens responsible for optical zoom out for a 50MP unit that features less… optical zoom…? Sure, okay. More megapixels means more for Samsung’s software to work with (more on that in a second) but it does take some of the functionality out of your hands.

In practical terms, you could just head back to last year’s review and read the camera portion. Substitute the mention of “10x optical zoom” for “5x optical zoom” and you’re most of the way to seeing what Samsung’s camera is capable of. It’s excellent, if you can’t be bothered to click the link above, but it’s also something we’ve seen before. If only there was some extremely novel feature to examine…

The elephant in the room

Here’s where Samsung’s device starts to stand out from what’s come before. We could make all manner of quips about how the hardware changes are less substantial every year but Galaxy AI is something genuinely new. It’ll also come to older smartphones at some point (some of it, anyway) but for now, if you want Samsung’s smartest, you’ll pay for a new phone to get it.

We’ve spoken a fair amount about what sort of features Galaxy AI adds to your phone but it’s another thing to see them in action. It may “only” be advanced image editing, translation, and transcription services but a little time with the Galaxy S24 Ultra will give you some idea of how useful they could be. Of course, the ability to automatically transcribe the audio recorded by Samsung’s own Recorder app is squarely aimed at media types like us so we’re bound to be captivated.

If you’re regularly talking to folks who speak other languages, the S24 Ultra (and the others in the series) can automatically translate both written and spoken communication. This is less useful for South Africans, given the introductory languages supported. English, obviously, is one but you won’t find any other South African languages on the list. Hindi? Sure? Simplified Chinese? Why not? Japanese? That’ll make watching unsubbed, undubbed anime a sinecure. There’s also a collection of European tongues, Vietnamese, and Korean if you need them, but using this feature is the tricky bit.

There’s one more notable Galaxy AI feature, designed to make it simple to buy items from the internet. Circle to Search lets you draw a circle with the S Pen and it’ll find that item — someone else’s shoes, a t-shirt, basically anything branded — for sale. Otherwise, it’ll do its best to provide info about whatever you’ve circled. It’s possible to screw with it but you’ll be marking blatantly generic portions of an image for no good reason. Kinda defeats the point, yeah?

Samsung has also baked in several image editing functions provided by Galaxy AI. The Galaxy S24 Ultra is capable of generating its own slow-mo footage, missing frames being (mostly competently) interpolated using AI wizardry. It’s also possible to yank subjects out of a frame, with the missing section being automagically filled in using… AI. No more asking a compliant Twitter Photoshop account to crop your ex from that one image you really like. AI-generated watermarks are also a thing. You can sidestep them, but it takes effort.

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra verdict

Do you absolutely need Samsung’s Galaxy S24 Ultra? Nope. But that’s been true of Samsung flagships for years. Most folks don’t need the overwhelming power these phones bring to market. The introduction of Galaxy AI means that most buyers will be using their handsets more extensively than they ever have before but if you’re fine with waiting to get your hands on Samsung’s artificial intelligence, you can hang onto your Galaxy S23 Ultra. Heck, probably even the S22 Ultra is worth keeping for another cycle.

But that doesn’t change the fact that this is Samsung’s most advanced phone ever. If you’ve been playing with the idea of trying an S-series handset for the first time, this is a great place to start. Provided you’re okay with parting ways with at least R30,000, this will be all the phone you need for the next two years or so. Even longer, if Samsung’s assurances of seven years of software support sound like something you could get behind.

As it turns out, it was a plan to wait for the stock version of Oppo’s 10 lineup and not just because it’s a much more affordable proposition. The 10 Pro + features speedy enough hardware but it was priced outside of where we felt comfortable. Here, it feels like you’re getting more than you pay for.

A curve and a bump

Our Reno 10 review unit arrived in a shade we persistently think of as Unicorn Blue. Oppo calls it Ice Blue but we can see the wavering pinks and silvers in the backplate well enough. You can’t fool us. The look and feel are classic Oppo. The rear panel is treated plastic that looks better than it feels (and it feels… pretty decent, actually). The phone curves to a metal frame from both directions, borrowing some of the design language from older Samsung smartphones. Hey, it’s not like the Korean giant is using it any more.

Oppo has stuck as much as is feasible into the Reno 10. USB-C takes care of charging, bracketed on the bottom edge by a SIM tray and speaker vent. The physical keys are along the upper right edge and there’s a lonely little IR blaster at the top. If you were hoping for some wired headphone love, you’ll have to snag yourself a USB-C-to-3.5mm adaptor, unfortunately.

Around back is a chunky bevelled camera bump that, if this phone were coloured yellow, would put us in mind of one of Despicable Me‘s Minions. Stuart, specifically, because he’s always got that goofy grin on his face. The three rear cameras live inside that bump and we’ll get to them in a bit.

Alternate Dimensity

You’ll have no cause for visual complaint from the Reno 10’s 6.7in AMOLED display. It ticks just about every box — 120Hz refresh rate, HDR 10+ support, and 950 nits of peak brightness — but the panel doesn’t live behind especially well-toughened glass. Oh, well. When you see the price, you’ll understand. The screen is bright enough and is stuffed with enough pixels to keep you media-happy. Maybe even gaming-happy, if your chosen entertainment isn’t too high-end.

That’s the Dimensity 7050 in action. It’s a decent enough processor, offering snappy navigation and swapping between apps if you’re being reasonable with your usage. It’s less accomplished when it comes to rendering epic Fortnite wins but who’s expecting that sort of performance from a R10,000 smartphone? Oh, all right, there’s always that one guy but you really can’t have everything.

The Reno 10’s Dimensity CPU and 8GB of RAM don’t do much to detract from the overall experience but the same can’t be said of Oppo’s ColorOS Android 13 skin. We understand why it’s so annoying compared to vanilla (or near-vanilla) Android. That doesn’t mean we’ve got to be happy about it.

The fact remains that there’s plentiful bloatware on the phone on the first boot. The stuff that’s not installed will look for any excuse to do so but at least you can delete the folders full of shortcuts from the main screen in short order. Unless you mispress and accidentally install the lot. Some decent apps are installed from the outset but not as many as we’d expect. Facebook is there but not Instagram or WhatsApp. Ayoba stands alongside Booking.com (what is this, an Acer laptop circa 2014?) and LinkedIn is also a default app. Then there’s Genshin Impact… but there’s also plenty of dross that you should avoid.

Behold, the Stuart-camera

The rear camera bump that looks like a grinning, one-eyed purveyor of mischief hosts a fairly serious lens setup. Serious for this price point, at any rate. There’s a main 64MP sensor that handles the day-to-day lifting by spitting up 16MP images. Pixel-binning is the answer to this and it makes for clearer shots in general. If you like, you can set the Reno 10 to snap at full resolution and then crop down yourself but you’ll have to know what you’re doing for that.

It’s the secondary cameras that are of particular interest. Or, rather, one of them is. The 8MP lens is an unexciting ultrawide that does what it’s supposed to but the 32MP telephoto lens is remarkable. A remarkable feat for a R10,000 smartphone. There’s some true telephoto skill in the Reno 10 as a result, even if it’s only 2x optical zoom. Oppo is adamant that you’re not supposed to be sneaking up on wildlife with it anyway. Instead, the minor zoom is designed to facilitate better portrait shots.

It works, as it happens, though we can see how a whole telephoto just for that might be considered overkill. We’d think so too, if the phone wasn’t available so cheaply. There’s a 32MP sensor up front as well, in case you’d like to get in on the action. It’s a shade less capable at convincing foreground/background separation but it’ll do the job.

Oppo Reno 10 verdict

If called upon to choose between the Oppo Reno 10 and the 10 Pro+, our vote would have to go to the Reno 10. It’s not as powerful, sure, but it’s also about half the price of its bulkier sibling. Combine that with an ambitious camera, capable if not outstanding performance, and enough battery uptime to keep you going through a day and a bit (with 67W wired charging to keep your messages and feeds alive), and you’ve got yourself a nifty lower-mid-range smartphone. If telephoto lenses are showing up at this point in Oppo’s lineup, it’s only a matter of time before we see them proliferate elsewhere. That’s going to make life harder for flagships looking to stand out and buying choices harder for the folks who have to watch where their money goes. Your money won’t be wasted here but if you’ve got more to spend, you’ll obviously do better.

The Honor 90 continues the trend of delivering high-quality tech for a fraction of what you’d pay at, say, Apple’s storefront. Sure, it’s missing some things, but for the R14,500 price point, you won’t hear us complaining. Okay, maybe a little…

A usual suspect

We’d forgive you for mistaking the Honor 90 for its predecessor, the Honor 70. That’s because it’s rocking all the usual Honor trademarks; a large, curved display with some narrow bezels to back it all up, a massively peculiar camera array in the rear shrouded by almost-shimmering plastic backing that’s slightly marred by the tacky “AI Matrix Camera” moniker under the cameras.

Branding aside, the Honor 90 is a pretty phone. And we do love a pretty phone. What we love more is a phone free of fingerprints, which isn’t something the Honor 90 can brag about. You’ll find a plastic case in the box to relieve you of those issues, but it does hamper your ability to fiddle with the tactile backing.

Our biggest complaint turned up when we got a look at those boulders Honor calls cameras. If your first thought was “That’s going to have some wobble,” as it was ours, you’re exactly right. Throwing on the included plastic cover helped mitigate this somewhat, but didn’t alleviate the problem entirely. Extra-protuberant cameras aren’t anything new in the smartphone industry. Sadly, we don’t see Honor changing its mindset anytime soon. Sigh.

You won’t find any sort of IP certification here – at least, not according to the phone’s specs page and we’ll take their word for it – meaning you’ll want to be extra careful when handling the thing near water or any sort of hard surface. That might sound like a given, but when it comes to the Honor 90, we mean it.

A colourful personality

Honor fitted the 90 with a flagship-level display, almost instantly making us forget our qualms with its slightly lacking design. It’s got a 2,664 x 1,200 6.7-inch AMOLED panel that’s capable of a dynamic refresh rate of up to 120Hz and 1,600 nits of brightness, more than enough for a trip to The Outside.

The 3,840Hz PWM dimming rate that Honor spouts on about is supposedly meant to help reduce eye strain, though we never noticed much of a difference. It’s supposedly the fastest PWM dimming rate in the biz (according to Honor). Do with that information what you will. It wasn’t much use to us.

For the stuff we could keep track of, the Honor 90 stood up relatively well to the test. Those tests involved firing up a game or twelve to see if that 120Hz refresh rate was up to scratch. It held up well on Call of Duty: Mobile, with our low k/d being nobody’s fault but our own. It played nicely with the HDR10+ support, which really became noticeable during our time with some of the more colourful games out there.

Unfortunately, it didn’t do much for the Honor 90’s battery, which suffered when the processor got more involved with the more demanding games. But we’ll get to that later.

Playing to its strengths

We had no complaints about Honor’s choice of chipset, which is Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 Accelerated Edition chipset, coupled with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, though beefier (or punier) models are also available if you’ve got (or lack) the dough. It’s also 5G-capable, but you already knew that.

There was hardly any jealousy for the more powerful 16GB model, with our review unit sticking the landing where performance was concerned. More grueling games caused the occasional stutter, though these weren’t noticeable enough to hamper the experience. Take the games away and you’ll struggle to make this thing stutter, with the Honor 90 breezing through everyday tasks.

This was after we purged the smartphone of its 30-something-plus pieces of bloatware, of course. It’s not an issue unique to Honor, but it is more prevalent here. It’ll require a solid ten minutes of scrubbing to get the Honor 90 close to resembling a fresh smartphone. Once you’ve climbed that hill, you’ll be free to roam around Android 13 with Honor’s MagicOS (7.1) skin thrown on top.

Mid-rangers are usually at their best when it comes to battery life, and Honor keeps that tradition alive. It’s got the same 5,000mAh battery you’d find in most places, and a 66W wired charger that’ll make you forget the Honor 90’s lack of wireless charging. It handled well when tasked with everyday usage, before promptly turning into a power-hungry little machine the second it started rendering some headshots. Stick close to a source of power and you’ll do just fine.

Make that AI work

On paper, the Honor 90’s promise of a 200MP rear sensor sounds promising. Unfortunately, that triple-digit figure is doing most of the heavy lifting, with real-life performance suffering. Bigger doesn’t always mean better. Not by a long shot. It’ll do okay, though. That’s if you know what you’re doing with the accompanying 12MP ultrawide and 2MP depth sensors and can get some vitamin D flowing through them.

Lose any of that skill or lighting, and things descend into chaos real quick. It tended to oversaturate colours, giving new meaning to the phrase “the grass is always greener…” which, in the Honor 90’s case, was always the issue. It often tried to overcompensate and oversaturate, often giving grass an unnatural look.

While the Honor 90 can produce a decent image under the right conditions, nighttime pictures are out of the question. Unless you’re a fan of grain and a slight loss in detail which creates some sort of in-real-life filter we weren’t too fond of.

It’s not all bad. Flip the thing around, and you’ll find the phone’s 50MP camera for taking selfies. Colours felt natural, and the images we took were sharp. That’s possibly thanks to the help of Honor’s AI beauty mode and numerous filters, which did their best to turn our faces into something worth looking at.

Honor 90 5G verdict

The Honor 90 left a good taste in our mouths. Apart from an inconsistent camera array and a few personal issues on the design front, that is. The Honor 90 is at its best when it’s making use of the massive AMOLED display and kept us happy where its performance and battery were concerned. If you’re not too fussed about camera quality and have R14,500 just lying around, we’d recommend checking out the Honor 90. If photography is essential you’d do best to look elsewhere.

As with most things, this may or may not be a good thing. In the case of Samsung’s ill-fated Galaxy K Zoom, ‘visually striking’ didn’t equal ‘functionally useful’ (and it really should have). Here, Huawei’s gone for impressive looks without worrying about making it somehow more than just a pretty face. It works, if for no other reason than it’ll have folks looking twice at the mini-computer you’ve just hauled out of your pocket. In a good way.

Looking a little green

Don’t expect anything radically different when it comes to smartphone layout from Huawei’s Nova 11 Pro. Phone design hasn’t changed much in the past ten or twelve years. Until gesture or psychic (in the sense that your phone reads your mind) control makes a significant leap, don’t expect that to alter for the next ten or so. Huawei hasn’t done anything novel here. This handset is still a metal frame fronted by an OLED screen, tucked under the company’s own Kunlun glass. The USB-C charge port, speaker vent, and SIM tray live at the bottom of the frame. The upper right edge hosts physical buttons. So far, it’s nothing special.

But it’s the colour and the shape (thanks, Dave Grohl) that matters here. The metal frame is an interesting shade of green while the vegan leather rear panel also features a very verdant shade. This is further accented by rows of debossed Nova logos, with a single larger debossed logo in the bottom third of the phone. You know, right in the tramp-stamp region? The triple camera bump is similarly themed. While it’s still a bit large for us, it’s not as obnoxious as some recent Huawei efforts. We can honestly say we’ve never seen a phone quite like this. Unfortunately, looks aren’t everything.

Ten equals Eleven

Smartphone makers have either learned that they can repeat features and specs without users caring or they’re running out of ideas (or options). Whatever the case is, we’ve seen features staying static across device generations for a while now. The likes of Samsung tend to do this most heavily for its flagship devices but Huawei’s taken a chance on a mid-range sequel where little has changed. That’s how the Huawei Nova 10 Pro and the Nova 11 Pro have come to share their major features. The processor and display remain unchanged across the two devices, as does the RAM. Even the cameras are more or less identical, with the Nova 11 Pro representing a (minor) step back in that regard.

Both phones are powered by the Snapdragon 778G, a 4G chipset that suits an upper-mid device like this one. Both include a 6.78in OLED panel which is bright and attractive enough, even if you’re looking at it for the second time in two years. HDR10 support and a 120Hz refresh rate tick the buzzword boxes and behind the screen is 8GB of RAM. One minor difference here is that instead of 128GB and 256GB models, the Nova 11 Pro starts with 256GB and goes up to 512GB. Flash memory probably became cheaper over the past cycle.

What this means is that, in terms of pure performance, there’s little to no difference between Huawei’s mid-range leader for 2023 and the same device last year. If you already have a Nova 10 Pro, there’s little reason to consider an upgrade unless you’re really envious of the new green colourway. Even then, a prettier chassis isn’t worth dropping R17,000. Not when that’s the only substantial change. The math is different if you’re upgrading from anything else but if you pulled the trigger last year, maybe wait a while longer before taking your next shot.

Eyes (up) front

The Nova 11 Pro follows the same path laid out by its immediate predecessor by taking the exact same steps the Nova 10 Pro did. That means that the front cameras are larger than the rear cameras, something that’s more true in 2023. Last year, the rear arrangement featured three camera sensors — a 50MP main, an 8MP ultrawide, and a 2MP depth camera. This year, the depth camera has ducked out, leaving just two adorning the back panel.

The front set remains identical to last year’s. If the phone’s design hasn’t clued you in, the Nova 11 Pro is supposed to be a fashion statement and folks who are keen on that tend to take selfies. Which is why there’s a 60MP monster of an ultrawide sensor in the front of this one, alongside an 8MP portrait lens. This leads to an unusual situation where the front cameras are more capable than the rear ones. It’s an excellent feature for those who want it but anyone else will find their world turned upside down.

The rear camera isn’t a slouch, of course. It’s capable of some excellent close-up photography and general shots benefit from Huawei’s onboard software assistance but Huawei makes better smartphone cameras (but it puts them in much more expensive phones). Low-light performance isn’t bad but it will be beaten by Huawei’s own flagship lineup which takes few prisoners, even if the competition is part of the same family. But, again, this is mostly the same camera setup found in the Nova 10 Pro. If you own one of those, you already know exactly what this phone can do.

The same old complaints

It’s got to be mentioned but we’re starting to think that relatively few people care – Huawei’s still not got full access to Google’s services. That doesn’t seem to have much of an impact on the company’s device sales here in South Africa so maybe the company’s mitigation measures are working. It’s less inconvenient to get your Gmail and YouTube working on this device but there are still more steps than a full-featured Android OS will ask you to take. For some, that’s a dealbreaker but it seems like the number of folks upset by this is shrinking.

Read More: Huawei Nova 10 review – Beautiful inconvenience

But Huawei’s decision to repeat its hardware and offer little upgrade beyond that admittedly gorgeous body, along with its usual Google issues, does make that R17,000 price point seem a little comical. You can certainly buy a similar phone with that sort of cash. It might even be a little faster and it’ll certainly have 5G support. It might even have an IP rating, something that’s missing here. But it probably won’t have 100W charging (unless you’re buying an Honor/Oppo/Vivo) and it definitely won’t look like this.

Huawei Nova 11 Pro verdict

Huawei’s Nova 11 Pro is an impressive mid-range smartphone but it doesn’t do quite enough to justify its price point. It’s the Nova 10 Pro in new livery, which is great for anyone who didn’t buy a Nova 10 Pro last year. It’ll perform the same in terms of speed, camera, display, and even battery. It’s relatively quick but lacks 5G, there’s no IP rating to go along with the attractive exterior, and the front camera is better than the rear camera. The Nova 11 Pro seems to be specifically targeted for this year and that target market probably isn’t the type to read reviews, on Stuff or anywhere else. Some of them will but the rest… well, just look at the phone itself. We know all about its faults and yet we still really, really want to carry one around. It looks that good.

The price is probably a significant factor. The Galaxy Z Fold 5 12GB/256GB review unit Stuff had to play with will set you back R42,000. If you opt for 512GB of storage, expect to pay R45,000. Those prices are considered… perhaps not reasonable but typical for a still-experimental form factor. But if anyone’s pushing these devices toward the mainstream, it’s Samsung. Well, they would.

Double down on design

We pointed it out when the phone was first announced but you’ll probably experience déjà vu when looking upon this tidily-handsome smartphone. Samsung’s saved a few bucks (not really) on the design by hanging onto 2022’s look. Oh, there are a few differences between this and the Galaxy Z Fold 4 but they’re incredibly minor. The flash has relocated itself on the camera bulge but that’s hardly enough to change your entire outlook on the planet.

Everything else important stays right where it was. The aluminium edge is identical to last year’s phone and even the displays aren’t different enough to be able to tell them apart without measuring the chassis. This year’s phone is smaller, officially. We’ve already dissected the granular differences between the pair but in terms of visual impact, you can expect the same thing as last year. If you liked the Fold 4 (and the Fold 3), you’ll like the Fold 5. Unless you’re getting bored now, that is.

It’s even possible you’re getting bored with the display(s). Both the interior 7.6in and outer 6.2in OLED displays are identical to last year’s device. That does mean 120Hz refresh rates all around, HDR 10+ support for the inner screen, and exactly the same dimensions. It is tempting to be mad about that but the fact is that Samsung’s OLED phone panels are incredible to look at. The only possible reason to get annoyed is because you’ve already got one at home. In that case, congratulations on your trust fund. You’re not supposed to buy the Fold every year (but Samsung would like you to).

Fastest foldable 

If power is something you desire, the Galaxy Z Fold 5 will deliver. It’s officially the most powerful folding smartphone on the market (in South Africa, anyway) thanks to Samsung’s own custom edition of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset inside it. But that’s not reason enough to make you buy one of these phones on its own. You can have that same power from Samsung’s Galaxy S23 Ultra for R12,000 less than the price of entry here. You have to want the more unique features available here too.

In which case you’re likely to be just as pleased. Samsung took some flack for the very minor gap between its facing screens with the Fold 4. That’s been ‘corrected’, so to speak, with almost zero gap visible between the two closed edges of the Fold 5. How Samsung did it is an involved process with words like “engineering” and “mathematics” being thrown about but the resulting hinge is as steady and stable as you might like. It’s also smooth in operation, though we can’t say for sure that it’ll stay that way. We’ve only had a couple of weeks and that phone’s supposed to last a couple of years.

The hinge does have a couple of tipping points at its open and closed extremes where it’ll tend to spring all the way open or snap all the way closed. They’re not issues — you’re unlikely to want the phone to sit in those positions, ever — but we will note that Huawei’s Mate XS3 offers a stiffer, arguably more stable hinge. In practical terms, though, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a difference between these two devices.

Snap happy

If you’re after camera technology in addition to a screen that’ll open to tablet size, you’re in a moderate amount of luck. The camera performance on offer is decent. We’d go as far as labelling it ‘excellent’ but only if we’re allowed to add the caveat ‘for a folding smartphone. Samsung’s own S23 lineup offers better camera performance at an appreciable fraction of the price Samsung’s asking for the Galaxy Z Fold 5. We’ll keep stressing this point — you have to want the Fold 5 as part of a package deal. An individual feature on its own isn’t enough to make this a compelling buy.

There are three main camera sensors, usable whether the Galaxy Z Fold 5 is open or closed. The 50MP main sensor, 10MP telephoto, and 12MP ultrawide are as capable as any Samsung smartphone that features the combination. There’s the catch, actually. The camera setup is the same as the Samsung Galaxy S23, a R20,000 smartphone. The Fold 5 will perform as well as that handset but not much better, if at all. It’s not an impossible bar to scale and this phone will provide serviceable images in most situations but we did find that it took a shade too long to capture images in low light. Here is where the Fold has an advantage. It can act as its own rest, provided you’re fine with snapping pics in landscape mode. That’ll make for some better in-the-darkness snaps.

Tiny little laptop

Samsung’s optimised some apps, and partnered up for a few others, to make its folding screen more of a practical affair. We’ve used Folds in a keyboard/display orientation for a while now and that’s just as good as it ever was. Samsung wants owners to have more tailored experiences, so there’s a little pop-out bar on the side and the bottom bar, which always includes the last four used apps, makes for easy switching between tasks.

It’s also possible to lock up to three apps side by side. You could have a video call and a video stream running at the same time, provided you remember to mute yourself. Google’s own apps now handle the folded screen a specific way. YouTube, for instance, will keep comments on the bottom half of the Galaxy Z Fold 5’s display, for some unearthly reason, while you watch on the top half. Why you’d do that to yourself is a matter for you and your therapist, but you can also just fullscreen that sucker and stay away from the toxic pool below the video.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 verdict

You probably didn’t need us to tell you that the Galaxy Z Fold 5 is Samsung’s best foldable to date. The specs and design have carried over a bit more than we’re really comfortable with but all that means is that we’re expecting a more substantial refresh rather soon. Like, 2024. But if you choose to take the R42,000 (or R45,000) plunge, you won’t be disappointed with what you’ve got. It’s the slickest, fastest, best-constructed experimental smartphone you’re likely to get this side of a cyberpunk future. At some point, we’ll be installing these things right into our skulls but right now, folding them in half is about as advanced as it gets. And so is this, for at least the next twelve months.

The Nokia C32 costs a relatively tiny R2,500 while managing to a) look like it’s more expensive and b) offer features you really wouldn’t expect at this price point. Don’t get too excited, however. Unicorns don’t exist and if they did, they wouldn’t cost just two-and-a-half grand. But you’re definitely getting your money’s worth here.

Looking? Good

The C32 puts on a good face when you extract it from the box but it’s immediately obvious that looks aren’t everything. Its appearance is excellent. From even a slight distance, observers will think you’ve spent more than double what you actually have on this smartphone – at least. The eagle-eyed will notice a bit more thickness through the middle than you’d expect but it’s only once you pick the phone up that you become aware of its construction foibles.

The edges are entirely, and noticeably, plastic. Normally we’d expect metal edges and a plastic back and be happy about it at this price. Instead, Nokia has opted for plastic edges and, strangely, a glass back. It’s a more high-end feature than you’d expect to find here and while it feels great, we’ve got some worries about the phone’s longevity if you’re the fumble-fingered type. The obvious solution is to tuck that lovely (and slippery) rear panel behind a case but that seems like such a shame. Ah, well.

The other features are all standard Android. There’s USB-C for charging, volume, and power keys, with the power button also hosting a speedy fingerprint sensor. The top edge includes a 3.5mm headphone jack for those living in the past. Overall, you’ll be more than happy with what you’ve got, even if some aspects of the Nokia C32 seem wasted.

Need for speed

It’s just as well that the Nokia C32 is a looker because under the hood there are… we hesitate to say ‘problems’ because they’re not at this price point, but this handset’s definitely slower than we’d like. And that’s with Nokia’s Android One version of Android 13, which is as stripped back as you can get it. If you start lobbing other apps into the mix, you’ll bring the Unisoc SC9863A1 processor to a grinding halt.

It’s not quite that bad. The Nokia C32 is usable, but if your requirements involve anything more than scrolling through web feeds or apps, you’re better off spending more money. The 6.5in 720 x 1,600 LCD screen does its best but it’s easily outclassed. If, let’s be clear, you’re planning on spending more money. Performance isn’t far from what we’d expect from any other R2,500 smartphone. The only version available in South Africa features 4GB of RAM and 128GB of storage (you can expand that), which means we missed out on the 3GB/64GB version Nokia also released for some reason. That’s a good thing, in case it wasn’t obvious.

The C32 could have been better, in terms of hardware. A speedier processor or a step up to a full HD screen would probably have negated the glass back, swapping it out for something plastic, but N0kia also invested some cash in the camera sensors.

We say ‘sensors’…

It’s actually not multiple sensors you should be excited about. The front-facing cam is an 8MP that tries its best but isn’t up to much more than basic snaps. It’s the back-end you should be paying attention to and even then, just one of the pair is worth taking a second look at.

The 2MP macro lens isn’t totally crap but it also only does what it’s supposed to. The last time we were excited about a 2MP sensor was when phones upgraded from the 0.3-megapixel lenses that were circulating sometime around 2006/2007. No, the smart money is on the 50MP sensor that Nokia has crammed into its C32. It’s supposed to facilitate decent low-light performance. It’ll kind of do that if you’ve got a steady hand. Or a tripod. It’s that sluggish processor again. Low-light shots are possible but the camera takes its time snapping them. Unless you’re taking images of stationary objects — and even then, you’d have to be resting your wrists on something — expect some blur to creep in.

Daylight shots are a better affair, if only because the Nokia C32 has enough light to get the job done faster. More expensive phones will take more detailed photos but these aren’t bad. The oversized megapixel count gives it some room to play with in decent light.

And then… 

There are only two aspects we haven’t covered yet. The battery (5,000mAh, Lithium-polymer) and the charge speed (10W) and that’s only because they’re… unremarkable. A faster charge speed would have been nice but underpowered hardware stretches the battery further than you’d expect.

There’s a waterproof rating (kinda) but since it’s IP52 (decent dust, very minor water), you’d best keep the Nokia C32 out of the toilet.

Finally, don’t expect 5G or NFC, two features that are becoming increasingly more important. Your R2.5k won’t buy you access to those technologies on this occasion. Still, it’s got a glass back. How fancy is that?

Nokia C32 verdict

The Nokia C32 isn’t the best phone you’re going to encounter but you’ll also run into very few properly budget devices that look as good as this one. We could have done without the plastic edge and would have traded that glass back for a speedier chipset but sometimes looking good is more important than being intelligent. Hey, it’s the basis for an entire internet economy in this modern age (we’ll let you work out which one). And if it works for them, it’ll probably work for other products like smartphones too. Seriously, though, the C32 gives you more than you’d expect for your R2,500 entry fee.

It’s a budget device in every sense, immediately noticeable in its lightweight all-plastic construction. But when it’s light in your hand, there’s a good chance it’ll be light on your wallet too. Coming in at R5,000, the Spark 10 5G fits the bill. Here’s what you’re getting for your money.

Plastic (is) back, man

From a distance, you might mistake the Spark 10 5G for a higher-end model from a different brand, especially if you catch a glimpse of the camera array. Get closer and the craftsmanship of the R5,000 smartphone starts becoming a little more pronounced. Nowhere is it more prevalent than with the Spark 10 5G’s plastic rear panel. That’s not necessarily a bad thing in a world where fingerprints on glass reign supreme. And there is a budget to stick to, after all.

It certainly wasn’t an issue for us. We threw on the transparent cover that came in the box and went about our day. Much more interesting is the design on the back of the phone – as Tecno attempts to deliver something a little different. Colour-changing is a no-go, but the strangely abstract art-nouveau backing wouldn’t look out of place at the Guggenheim. Aside from the subtle Tecno branding that the company couldn’t help itself from displaying.

It’s got all the bits you’d expect from any smartphone. A USB-C charger, single loudspeaker, and headphone jack all line the bottom. The power button-fingerprint sensor combo lives on the right, along with the volume buttons. The left houses the SIM and microSD card trays.

Exceeds Expectations

It can be easy to get swept up in a phone’s pretty exterior and lose sight of what’s most important: performance. Fortunately, the Spark 10 5G’s performance kept pace with the pretty shell and then some. Still, it’s worth tempering those expectations. You won’t be getting stellar performance because you’re not paying top dollar.

You’ll find a MediaTek Dimensity 6020 chipset powering everything, 64GB of storage and 4GB of RAM. There are models out there that’ll offer more in the storage and memory departments, but they’ll set you back a bit more. Duh.

We didn’t mind that 4GB of RAM, though. It’ll get through smartphone duties without much complaint – unless that happens to be intense gaming. It’s fine for the occasional foray into Subway Surfers or Clash of Clans but don’t ask it to try and render your kill shots in PUBG. It’ll certainly try, but you won’t be doing much killing.

Gaming aside, the Spark 10 5G’s performance lived up to our expectations. It strolled through everyday use without breaking a sweat, managing to multitask quite well when gaming wasn’t involved. That’s partly due to the HiOS running on Android 13 and the 90Hz refresh rate Tecno’s treated us with here. Our only complaint here is the bloatware. Tecno’s not the only company guilty of this and it does kinda make sense on a budget device. We just wish it wasn’t so in your face about it.

Hey, at least it’s not 480p

We knew there had to be something. Something that would make us go ‘ah, that’s where money was saved’. That came in the form of the 6.6in IPS LCD display. It tries to redeem itself with a 90Hz refresh rate but a slick 720p resolution can only look so good. There’s also a bit of a chin under the display and some rather thick bezels taking up valuable screen real estate.

It’s not all bad news. You won’t have to go out looking for a screen protector – unless you happen to crack the one that’s pre-applied. If you’re facing a bout of load shedding, the colours are vibrant enough and the brightness faires well for a temporary YouTube or Netflix vessel in the dark.

Saving grace(s)

Speaking of load shedding, Tecno’s stuck a 5,000mAh battery in here which accounts for most of the Spark 10 5G’s substantial weight. There’s even 18W ‘fast-charging’ that’ll go a long way. Considering the 720p display and conservative processor, the biggest smartphone battery drainers, it’ll get through a full day with enough juice leftover if Eskom suddenly changes load-shedding stages. That’s a win in our book.

As for snapping pics, we wouldn’t recommend the Spark 10 5G to be your first choice. Don’t get us wrong, it’s got all the makings of a half-decent camera – with a 50MP main sensor on the rear that’ll put a shift in when you need it to, coupled with the front-facing 8MP sensor that didn’t do much for our self-confidence.

You’ll still snap a good picture if you know what you’re doing, and the lighting is favourable – but whip this out at night and you’ll need a miracle to post something worthy of the Gram. Flip it around and you’ll meet the 8MP selfie sensor. Tecno’s AI ‘beautifier’ is doing its best to make up for the lack of nuanced image processing. If you don’t mind the heavily-processed look, then you won’t have a problem. But don’t expect to make a career out of photography here.

Tecno Spark 10 5G verdict

At the end of the day, R5,000 isn’t a whole lot to pay for what you’re getting here. The decent battery life, reduced screen resolution, and fast-enough processor will see you through the day. Oh, and there’s 5G. If you don’t have a big budget and need the increased 5G speeds, you could do worse than the Tecno Spark 10 5G.

The reason you don’t see as many risks at the higher end of the market segment is that there’s too much to lose. But in the price bracket the Nova Y91 occupies, there’s a massive amount of competition. Everyone plays there. The key to success is standing out — provided your standout feature is worth looking into. Here, it’s the battery. We’ll get to that in a moment.

Take your tablet

Remember how we said there are only so many ways to design a rectangle? That’s quite true here. There’s little new going on in terms of design or materials. There’s a large circular camera housing on the Nova Y91’s rear that Huawei is favouring of late, but from the front, this smartphone could be one of a dozen devices. There are relatively slim bezels, an almost-there chin at the base, and a wide notch up top hosting the front-facing camera.

The usual bits, minus a 3.5mm headphone jack, are in place around the Y91’s edge. Volume and power controls, a USB-C port, SIM tray and some speaker vents. There’s nothing really remarkable happening on the design front, beyond that camera bump. The screen here is a bit of a monster — 6.95in is almost tablet-sized, though this IPS panel attains its size thanks to its vertical measurement. It’s not quite perfect for media consumption but it’s pretty good.

Huawei has deemed it fit to drop a thick clear case into the box. This saves you the trouble of purchasing one yourself and offers some protection in the event of a fall. A third-party case would probably do a better job, but those cost money. Also in the box? Some wired headphones, with a USB-C connector. That’s a very neat touch. Huawei didn’t have to do that. We’ll stick with our wireless buds but not everyone has that option.

Battery included

You can expect a fair crop of hardware behind Huawei’s bright display. There’s no 5G support for the Nova Y91 (that’s a problem that may go away soon for the Chinese tech-maker) but it’s not something you’ll miss here unless you’re hoping to play games online. The phone’s spec doesn’t really support it on a competitive basis anyway, but you’ll get away with some casual titles where there’s less on the line.

Inside, there’s a Snapdragon 680 processor, 8GB of RAM, and 256GB of storage. That’s more than enough to get by, matching some top-end smartphones (in the RAM/storage departments). It’s worth sticking around for at this price but they’re not the star of the show.

That honour belongs to the battery. Huawei’s managed to cram a 7,000mAh battery into the back of this thing. How or why is a mystery (though we can guess at the ‘why’) but it’ll take some doing to run this thing down. Huawei reckons it’ll take 29 hours of video to run it down from a full charge and we’ll have to take their word for that. That’s the sort of test that can only be done in a lab. But actually using it does support these numbers, or close to them. We find we get bored after about eight hours of constant streaming. The battery, however, doesn’t.

Because they have to

The large circular camera bump on the back of the phone is a bit misleading. There’s space for four items but only three are occupied. One of these is a decent 50MP sensor, the one that Huawei probably won’t stop talking about. The other two are an LED flash and then a 2MP depth sensor. If you’re looking for Huawei’s best camera effort, this isn’t it. Those phones tend to be… well, far more expensive. This one… isn’t. Still, it’ll throw some social-media-ready snaps your way if you ask nicely. Lighting matters but Huawei’s automated systems also do their very best to make whatever you’re chronicling look good.

The same goes for the Nova Y91’s front-facing 8MP camera. It’s not the biggest (or best) selfie-snapper but Huawei’s face-upskilling tech sticks around. As usual, there’s a slider that’ll take your snaps from ‘reality TV’ to ‘Keeping Up with the Kardashians‘. It’s up to you to decide just how airbrushed you’d like your own visage to be.

Finally, there’s the software. You should know the drill by now. EMUI 13 is in place but Google Mobile Services… isn’t. There’s nothing new on that front but it’s possible to use many Google services, like Gmail and Youtube, on Huawei’s devices now. It’s not ideal but it’s easy to implement, even if there’s a hoop or two extra to hop through. We can probably stop hoping for a change back to Ye Olde Days. Huawei’s awfully invested in its own ecosystem and we’re not sure they’d be willing to chuck it now even if fully-fledged Android was permitted again.

Huawei Nova Y91 verdict

Huawei’s newest mid-ranger hovers around the budget mark. Its R7,000 price point keeps it just out of reach of that segment. So does the rest of it, for that matter. The screen and internals are adequate for daily use without being underpowered. There are a couple of drawbacks, sure, but you’re also paying a rand per milliamp when it comes to the phone’s battery. This thing is humongous enough to keep you powered for extended periods. We’d question why Huawei felt it had to drop a massive battery into the Nova Y91 but this is South Africa. Everything could do with a bigger battery within these borders.